Time crunch in roll adjudication may spike ineligible voter count in WB, say observers

Kolkata, Mar 6 (PTI) A massive backlog in the disposal of ‘under adjudication’ cases in West Bengal’s post-SIR electoral rolls has triggered speculation over whether a large number of under-scanner electors would be deprived of their voting rights in the upcoming assembly polls due to shortage of time for scrutiny.

With nearly 54 lakh cases still remaining to be adjudicated, the conjecture gained credence after West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal said polls in Bengal would take place at the "right time" following the EC’s two-day visit to the state on March 9-10, leading observers to conclude that elections are likely to be announced in mid-March.

The EC, in its post-SIR electoral rolls published on February 28, has already deleted names of nearly 64 lakh voters in Bengal and, as a sole example in the country, flagged off names of another 60.06 lakh electors to be kept ‘under adjudication’, whose enumeration forms are currently being screened for ‘logical discrepancies’ (LD) by the EC-appointed judicial officers of the state.

Coupled with that scenario, the countrywide Lok Bhavan reshuffle, leading to the sudden mid-term resignation of Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday evening, barely days ahead of the scheduled announcement of the assembly elections, has prompted speculation across multiple quarters about whether the polls could be postponed and held later under the President’s rule.

The tenure of the 17th Legislative Assembly in West Bengal under the current Mamata Banerjee regime is scheduled to conclude on May 7.

Election watchers said the key to the issue may lie with the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear the ongoing SIR-related cases on March 10, as well as the outcome of the EC's two-day visit, during which it is expected to review poll preparedness and law and order in the state.

Senior officials in the poll panel said around 10 per cent of the adjudication cases have been disposed of by about 500 judicial officers since the final but incomplete rolls were published, leaving nearly 54 lakh cases yet to be screened.

"A little over six lakh LD cases have been disposed till Thursday. We are expecting another 200 judicial officers from Odisha and Jharkhand to arrive by Saturday. Following their training for this exercise, these officers can then be added to the existing squad from Monday," EC’s special roll observer for Bengal, Subrata Gupta, said.

Gupta said around one lakh cases are currently being disposed of per day by the existing officers. With about 700 officers expected to handle the exercise next week, nearly 1.5 lakh cases could be processed daily, he said. According to simple math, the process is likely to take more than a month to complete.

"We are expecting the Supreme Court to give us necessary directions on this matter since it is evident that the supplementary rolls for all pending LD cases cannot be completed before mid-March. Whether the polls would be held on the basis of incomplete rolls will depend on the apex court and the EC," a senior poll official said.

Commission rules state that citizens whose names appear in electoral rolls published before the final day of withdrawal of nominations by candidates for a particular phase are eligible to exercise their franchise. Once elections are notified, a window of about 10-12 days is available for candidates to withdraw nominations.

"Let’s say that the EC declares elections on March 15 and publishes gazette notification for it on the following day for the first phase. Let’s also assume that the commission selects the eight north Bengal districts for the first phase of polling. Candidates in those districts will then face a March 26-28 deadline to withdraw nominations, and pending LD cases in those districts must be disposed of to allow all eligible voters to cast their votes. Else there could be voters who may be left out of the voting process," an official explained.

According to data available from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, over 16.5 lakh cases, comprising about 27.5 per cent of total cases, have been referred for judicial adjudication in four of the eight north Bengal districts of Cooch Behar, Kalimpong, Uttar Dinajpur and Malda alone.

On Thursday, the Left parties held a dharna outside the CEO’s office in Kolkata over alleged discrepancies in the post-SIR electoral rolls and told CEO Manoj Agarwal that they won’t allow elections in the state till all 60 lakh adjudication cases are resolved.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in at Kolkata’s nerve centre Esplanade to protest the alleged arbitrary deletions from rolls, escalating the TMC's confrontation with the EC.

In the eventuality of the postponement of the polls, a normal feature for West Bengal, observers say the imposition of Article 356 would be inevitable since the tenure of the present TMC government would expire before the poll process concludes. The transfer of Governor RN Ravi, a former IPS officer, from Tamil Nadu to Bengal would then become critical, they maintain.

"The replacement of Bose, a retired IAS officer, with Ravi, a former intelligence top boss who was also the deputy National Security Advisor, is no accident. If the President’s rule is imposed in Bengal, Ravi will be a much better fit compared to his predecessor," said Biswajit Bhattacharya, a senior journalist. He, however, expressed doubts on whether any of the statutory authorities, as well as the top court, would consider President’s Rule in the state, unless as a final option. PTI SMY MNB